IX

The rights, privileges and prerogatives reserved to the United States herein shall be exercised prior to 1 January 1955, except as relates to use of lands acquired for permanent cemeteries and/or memorials, including improvements thereto and buildings constructed thereon, which shall run in perpetuity.

I take this occasion to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.

Referring to the Embassy's note No. 927 dated June 6, 1947, I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that the Belgian Government is happy to signify to the Government of the United States its agreement concerning the privileges enumerated below, which are intended to permit the burial in Belgian territory, or the repatriation, of the remains of American citizens who were killed during the World War of 1939 to 1945, or whose death in the European theater of operations may be ascribed directly to that war, or who died in the said theater of operations while they were employed or were otherwise taking part in activities for carrying on the war, and the establishment, construction, laying out, and proper maintenance of permanent cemeeries for the final burial of American citizens who lost their lives in the said war, as well as of monuments intended to commemorate them.

I. The Belgian Government grants to the United States of America the right to establish and maintain temporary cemeteries in Belgium, subject to the necessary supervision, to bury therein American citizens who died as stated above, as well as the right to exhume bodies from such temporary cemeteries and from other places in order to take them back to the United States or to bring them together in permanent cemeteries in Belgium, in

cluding the right to transport bodies from other countries to Belgium. In view of the exiguity of the Belgian territory and the great number of military cemeteries which are already there, the Government of the United States will limit as far as possible the number of bodies of American citizens which are transported from other countries to Belgium. The Government of the United States will not undertake the mass transportation of bodies from other countries to cemeteries in Belgium with a view to their final burial. II. The Government of the United States will not be subject to the laws and regulations of the Belgian Government which are generally applicable relative to hygiene and the obtaining of the necessary permits for burying, exhuming, reburying and transporting the bodies. However, the Government. of the United States will promise to carry out that work so that it will not constitute a danger to public health and to take the sanitary measures necessary for that purpose. The exhumations, burials and transportation of the bodies shall be exempt from all Belgian taxes.

III. The Government of the United States may import into Belgium, from any country whatsoever, and re-export therefrom after using them, with exemption from customs duties and other charges, the equipment, supplies and materials, including such means of transportation by air, land or water, as may be necessary for fulfilling the purposes of the present Agreement.

No part of such equipment, supplies and/or materials shall be sold in Belgium or left in Belgium after the completion of the mission for which they have been used, except by the express authorization of the Belgian Government.

The American personnel appointed by the Government of the United States may enter Belgian territory freely and depart freely therefrom.

IV. The Government of the United States may use the railroads, roads, navigable waterways, ports, harbor installations and buildings for use as offices, storage and lodging, and draw upon the necessary Belgian services and man power to the extent required for fulfilling the purposes of the present Agreement, on the sole condition of paying the remuneration therefor at the established rates.

V. The Belgian Government will acquire, in order to establish thereon the permanent cemeteries (Fields of Honor) and (or) monuments, and plots of land which the Government of the United States deems necessary, and of which the said Government of the United States shall have the perpetual use, without being compelled to pay charges or compensation. The locations of these plots of land shall be chosen by mutual agreement and the plots shall have sufficient area to include, in addition to the graves, such embellishments and roads of approach as may be necessary as well as the construction of the buildings required for the reception of visitors, the quarters of gar

deners, and the storage of maintenance equipment. The land acquired under these conditions and the buildings and improvements added shall be taxexempt.

The right to use the plots in question shall include also the right to plan, design, mark out and lay out the permanent cemeteries, monuments and other structures which will be built there, as well as to embellish the plots and to take the necessary measures for the perpetual guarding and maintaining of the cemeteries and monuments, after approval by the proper Belgian authorities. No construction, including the creation of simple enclosures, shall be undertaken less than 10 meters from a foreign territory or less than 5 meters from a road the axis of which constitutes a boundary. VI. The wages and other remuneration paid by the United States to the personnel of American nationality engaged in the work contemplated by the present agreement shall be exempt from every kind of direct or indirect tax; it being understood, however, that the members of such personnel who are domiciled in Belgium or who have their permanent residences in that country shall be subject to the professional tax and the national emergency tax on their salaries, as well as on the supplementary personal tax. It is understood that, if the agreement to prevent double-taxation which is being negotiated at the present time between the Belgian Government and the Government of the United States is adopted and ratified, the American personnel concerned with the cemeteries shall be exempt from the income-tax. Pending adoption of that agreement, it may be agreed to postpone provisionally the collection of the income-tax, if the proper American authorities make an express request to that effect, indicating the names and addresses of the persons concerned.

VII. The provisions of the present Agreement shall apply with the same force and effect to the transportation of mortal remains by sea to Belgium from foreign countries, as well as to their burial, if the next of kin live in Belgium or in one of its territories or possessions and request that they be buried definitively in a permanent cemetery of the United States in Belgium.

VIII. The Belgian Government pledges itself to submit to the Belgian Parlement, should the occasion arise, such proposed laws as may be found necessary for exemption from the various charges and fees which have not been the subject of a formal exemption in the present Agreement.

IX. The rights, privileges and prerogatives reserved for the United States by virtue of the present Agreement shall be exercised before January 1, 1955, except when it is a question of the use of land acquired for the purpose of making permanent cemeteries and (or) for the purpose of erecting monuments thereon, including the appurtenances thereof and the buildings which

219-919-70- 43

will be erected there, in which cases the said rights, privileges and prerogatives shall be perpetual.

I avail myself of this occasion, Mr. Ambassador, to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my very high consideration.

For the Minister of Foreign Affairs:
The Secretary General ad interim,

His Excellency

Admiral ALAN GOODRICH KIRK,

Ambassador of the United States of America

Brussels

DE ROMRÉE

CIVIL AFFAIRS: STATUS AND FACILITIES TO BE ACCORDED U.S. FORCES ENGAGED IN OCCUPATION OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIA

Exchange of notes at Brussels April 29, 1948, with text of memorandum
of agreement

Entered into force April 29, 1948; operative from May 8, 1945
Obsolete 1

1

Department of State files

The Minister of Foreign Affairs to the American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim [TRANSLATION]

No. 452-611-2322

BRUSSELS, April 29, 1948

MR. CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES:

The negotiations which have taken place between the representatives of the Belgian and American Governments concerning the status and facilities to be accorded in Belgium to American forces taking part in the occupation of Germany and Austria have resulted in an agreement the terms of which are contained in the annexes hereto, the French and English texts being equally authentic.

I am happy to inform you that the Belgian Government has indicated its agreement with respect to these texts, subject to the approval of

Parliament.

I should be grateful if you would notify me of the agreement of the Government of the United States of America with respect to the contents of these documents.

I propose that this note, together with your reply, be considered as constituting an agreement between our two Governments which will enter into. force on the date of the exchange of the present notes, subject to approval

1

1 By the exchange of notes of May 6 and Aug. 7, 1969, the Government of the United States and the Government of Belgium agreed that the agreement was no longer in force.